Two West Hartford police sergeants are challenging the recent promotion of a colleague, citing a suspension that stemmed from an internal affairs investigation that found the successful candidate "carelessly" left more than 4 pounds of marijuana unattended and unsecured.

The marijuana – which the promoted officer says was being used to train a police dog – was discovered more than two years ago, and the investigation was closed last year.

But it has become fodder for a grievance challenging a decision by police Chief Tracey Gove to promote Eric Rocheleau from sergeant to lieutenant in June, even though the grievance says he ranked third during promotional testing. The two other sergeants who ranked higher than him — Sgt. Michael Alquist and Sgt. Joseph Creaco — say they feel the promotion process was biased, and the West Hartford Police Officers' Association has filed a grievance on their behalf.

The union claims in the grievance that Gove only skips over higher-ranked applicants if they had been recently disciplined and that neither Alquist nor Creaco have any disciplinary records on file. The grievance points out that Rocheleau was recently suspended.

In response to an inquiry from The Courant, Gove said that Creaco received a written reprimand in 2014 for failing to call off a pursuit but that the reprimand was reduced to a counseling session and the letter of reprimand was rescinded.

Documents obtained by The Courant through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Rocheleau's five-day suspension last spring stemmed from a 2014 internal affairs investigation into how marijuana ended up in the department without being properly documented.

Gove said recently that he was aware of the internal affairs investigation when he made Rocheleau a lieutenant.

In promoting Rocheleau, Gove listed his accomplishments over his 18-year tenure, noting his partnership with police dog Kora – the duo apprehended criminals, recovered lost persons, firearms, drugs and other contraband. Additionally, he assisted Central Connecticut State University and the University of New Haven with their criminal justice programs. In 2008, Rocheleau was named West Hartford's police officer of the year. He assisted Simsbury police in setting up their peer team program and is a member of the honor guard.

Internal Investigation

The marijuana was reported by a K-9 officer in September 2014. He said the three individually packaged bags of marijuana were stored in an unlocked orange tool box on the floor of the K-9 office, according to the 48-page report on the internal affairs investigation. Rocheleau, a former K-9 officer, was supervisor of the K-9 unit at the time.

Rocheleau told a department investigator that he had received the marijuana from a lieutenant in the special investigations division in 2009 and had used it for training, documents show.

Rocheleau said he had the marijuana from 2009 to about 2013 and kept it stored in his garage at home and in various places in the department, including the department's garage and, lastly, in 2013, the K-9 office on the first floor, which, the report notes, for some time did not have a lock on it.

He left the marijuana in a box there sometime between February and April 2014, he told the investigator, and had not seen the marijuana since, the report said.

Rocheleau said he had repackaged the marijuana on several occasions, as the container bags had worn down or were bitten by his police dog, the report said.

The documents shows that when interviewed, the special investigations lieutenant, who has since left the department, denied giving Rocheleau the marijuana and said he didn't know where Rocheleau "would have obtained such a large quantity of marijuana."

But Rocheleau insisted that the lieutenant had given it to him, the report said. "He gave me the drugs. I mean there's no other way," Rocheleau is quoted as saying in the report. "No other place I got that. None. I swear to God."

Typically, police departments are given drug kits by the state Department of Consumer Protection for training dogs, the report said. Each kit contains "varying quantities of lab-tested drugs and narcotics" and use of the kit must be logged. The marijuana Rocheleau said he used for training – which weighed 4.2 pounds in September 2014 – was not part of that kit, the report said.

"Sergeant Rocheleau was informed that of 14 individuals interviewed [as part of the internal affairs investigation], none knew anything about the secondary Drug kit (as it was referred to in his first interview) and all stated that over 4 pounds of marijuana would be an excessive amount to distribute for training," according to the report.

5-Day Suspension

As a result of the investigation, Rocheleau was suspended for five days for failing to "properly control and secure the marijuana," according to an April 2015 letter informing Rocheleau of his suspension. It cited the following faults:

The marijuana had not been certified for training and should not have been used in police dog training.

Rocheleau "carelessly left the marijuana unattended and unsecure for over a year in at least three locations including an unlocked police department office, the north garage of the department, and in the garage of your residence."

Rocheleau "failed to show leadership in your supervisory responsbilities" regarding the mariujana.

The origin of the marijuana is still unclear. A disciplinary letter to Rocheleau from late April 2015 states: "Ultimately, the investigation was unable to determine from where the marijuana was obtained."

The internal affairs report, completed in early 2015, ends by saying that the marijuana was being stored in the department's evidence closet. It has since been destroyed, Gove said.

Earlier this month, Rocheleau declined a reporter's request for comment on the investigation.

The episode received little attention outside the department until Rochlelau's promotion in June and the subsequent grievance.

Gove said he believes the marijuana came from "one of the parcel delivery services that intercepted a package containing the marijuana and turned it over to us" and could have been delivered to the department "well over a decade ago."

Gove said the internal affairs investigation found that the marijuana had been improperly stored. "Ultimately," Gove wrote, "we determined that this boiled down to a well-intentioned officer making a poor decision. He wasn't the first officer here to make a mistake and he won't be the last. The only requirement that I have when mistakes occur is that the officer learn from them and not repeat the error."

The department's practice, he noted, is to destroy marijuana intercepted by a parcel delivery service.

When asked why Rocheleau was chosen for promotion, Gove defended his selection in an email:

"All, as the West Hartford Police Union agrees, are qualified for the promotion. All have contributed to the department and have my full confidence, respect and support. As Chief, selecting one candidate to promote is always a difficult decision and this instance was no exception. … Sergeant Rocheleau is a seasoned member of the Department with a proven track record of public service. He is highly decorated.

"He was the police officer of the year in 2008 and he has received numerous citations from the department. … Sergeant Rocheleau has served in a variety of voluntary roles within the police department and he has volunteered his time – and continues to do so – at numerous vents throughout the community. I believe that he was the best candidate for the position I was looking to fill," Gove wrote.

The union grievance also indicates that Rocheleau is the subject of a current internal affairs investigation, but Gove said that he believes the union is referring to an incident involving several officers assisting another agency with a robbery pursuit. After review, Gove said, no West Hartford cruisers were "actively involved" in the pursuit and no disciplinary action was taken toward any officers involved.

The union grievance was denied by both Gove and Assistant Chief Daniel Coppinger. The union then submitted the grievance to town staff. Rick Ledwith, executive director of human resources for the town, said the grievance is under review.